Car coupler centering device



Sept. 6, 1938. G. c5. GILPIN CAR CUPLER CENTERING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed June 5, 1937 gay Sept. 6, 1938. i G, G, G|| P|N I 2,129,173

CAR COUPLER CENTERING DEVICE Filed June 5, 1937 2 sheets-sheet 2 Patented Sept. 6, 1938 PATENT OFFICE CAR CUPLER CENTERING DEVICE Garth G. Gilpin, Riverside, lll., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Standard Railway Equipment Manufacturing Company, a corporation of Delaware Application June 5, 1937, Serial No. 146,578

3 Claims.

The invention relates to railway cars and more particularly to centering device and emergency support for railway car couplers and is an ini-- provement upon the device covered by my Patent No. 1,658,120 granted February 7, 1928.

The object of the device is to provide a fabricated structure to support a swingable carrier for a railway car coupler comprising a plurality` of rolled steel parts reduced to a unitary structure by welding, which parts are shaped so that they can readily be formed from flat plates between dies in a reciprocating press.

Another object is to arrange the associated parts so that the places of welding are accessible to the Welder and also accessible for removing the weldedmaterial to disassemble the structure.

Another object is to form the associated parts so that they will be very strong for their weight.

Another object is to form and assemble the component parts so that there will be no pockets to hold water (or moisture) which would cause corrosion.

Another object is to form the complete structure so that the same swingable links and coupler car rier may be used which is now standard construction on a great many railroads.

Another object is to materially reduce the weight of the structure in comparison with the cast metal striking castings now in general use.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 shows a front elevation of a railway car equipped with my improved device.

Fig. 2 shows a section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1 on the right side and a section on line 3-3 of Fig. 1

on the left side.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a section on line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the assembled structure with the carrier, swingable links and trunnion pockets omitted.

Fig. 6 shows the trunnion pocket in perspective.

In the form of the invention illustrated the car is provided with the usual center sill construction 2 which is. extended to the ends of the car and supports the draft gear or draft rigging so thatV the spaced apart portions are sometimes called draft sills. The draft gear chiey is not shown.

The end and upper part of each sill is cutl out to form an upper notch 4 and a striking plate 5 ts into the upper notches and is welded to the draft sills at 6 and 1. This striking plate is reinforced by the horizontally disposed metallic plate 8 which is welded to the striking plate and to the draft sills.

The end and lower part of each draft sill is cut out to provide a lower notch ill and the angular brackets l2 are welded to each sill adjacent the upper portions I4 of the notches and adjacent the vertical margins l5 of the notches. These angular brackets i2 provide supports for one end of 5 the trunnion links i6 and also provide a hood to protect the upper ends of the trunnion links I6. An angular tie member 20 extends between and is welded to the draft sills 2 at 22, which angular tie member is provided with an outwardly pro- 10 jecting flange 24 at the lower margin thereof. This member 20 provides a strut-tie between the two draft sills 2 so that it acts in compression or tension to retain the draft sills in proper relation to each other. The face plates 30 are welded to 15 the ends of the draft sills (32) and to the iiange 24 of the tie member at 34, and also preferably to the striking plate 5. at 36. These face plates 30 form supports for the upper ends of the trunnion links I6. 20

A lug 38 is welded to each of the angular brackets I2 and a similar lug 40 is Welded to each of the face plates 30. The trunnion pockets 42 are provided with projections 43-44 forming recesses 45 which straddle the lugs 38 and 40 to 25 hold the trunnion pocket against lateral displacement and the rivet 46 or other means otherwise holds the trunnion pocketsin place.V

The coupler` centering device comprises the usual coupler carrier4 50 swingably supported by 80 the trunnion links I6 which pivotally engage pockets in the carrier and also pivotally engage the trunnion pockets 42. The carrier 50 is provided with lugs 52 to hold the coupler in proper relation to the carrier. The carrier 50 and links 85 I6 form no part of this invention.

The striking plate angular tie member 20 and the two face plates 30 form a rectangular frame for the coupler shank which ties the ends of the two draft sills 2 together. The angular tie mem- 40 ber 2li also provides an emergency coupler support. In case the centering device should fail the coupler would rest on the upper edge of the coupler tie member 20 and not. fall to the track.

'Ihe accompanying drawings illustrate the pre- 45 ferred form of the invention though it is.to be understood that the invention is not limited to the exact details of construction shown and described. as it is obvious that various modifications thereof, within the scope of the claims, 50 will occur to persons skilled in the art.

I claim:

l. A fabricated structure to support a swingable carrier for a railway car coupler comprising spaced apart draft sills, a notch in the end and 55 lower part of each sill, an angular bracket welded to the outside of each sill adjacent the upper and vertical margins of said notches, a lug welded to the outside of each of said brackets, an angular tie member extending between and welded to said sills which is provided with an outwardly projecting ange at the lower margin thereof, a face plate extending outwardly beyond the sill and welded to the end of each sill and to the flange of the tie member to form a housing, and a lug welded to the inside of each of said face plates opposite the rst mentioned lugs for supporting trunnion pockets.

2. A fabricated structure to support a swingable carrier for a railway car coupler comprising spaced apart draft sills, a notch in the end and lower part of each sill, an angular bracket welded to the outside of each sill adjacent the upper and Vertical margins of said notches, a lug welded to the outside of each of said brackets, an angular tie member extending between and welded to said sills which is provided with an outwardly projecting flange at the lower margin thereof, a face plate extending outwardly beyond the sill and welded to the end of each sill and to the flange of the tie member to form a. housing, a lug welded to the inside of each of said face plates, and trunnion pockets having recesses therein which straddle said lugs to hold the trunnion pockets against lateral displacement.

3. A fabricated structure to support a swingable carrier for a railway car coupler comprising spaced apart draft sills, a lower notch in the end and lower part of each sill, an angular bracket Welded to the outside of each sill adjacent the upper and vertical margins of said notches, a lug welded to the outside of each of said brackets, an angular tie member extending between and welded to said sills which is provided with an outwardly projecting flange at the lower `margin thereof, an upper notch in the end and upper part of each sill, a striking plate fitting in said notches and welded to said sills, a face plate extending outwardly beyond the sill and welded to the end of each sill, said face plate being welded to said striking plate, and to the flange of the tie member to form a housing, and a lug welded to the inside of each of said face plates opposite the rst mentioned lugs for supporting trunnion pockets.

GARTH G. GILPIN. 

